If you’re buying or expanding Asana for HR, onboarding is your proof point. This guide shows exactly how to design a customized, compliant onboarding program in Asana—built once, reused indefinitely, and monitored weekly.

Why use Asana for onboarding?

Asana provides HR teams with a centralized space to standardize the process (using templates), customize effectively (through forms, rules, and relative due dates), and demonstrate impact (using portfolios and dashboards). Asana offers an employee onboarding template and step-by-step guides that can be adapted; the 2025 releases included AI-driven templates and automations to accelerate setup.

What “good” looks like (outcome first)

• Consistent core with personalized paths by role, location, and contract type.

• No manual transitions: new hires, managers, IT, facilities, and payroll all follow the same plan.

• Structured progression: day 0, week 1, and 30/60/90-day checkpoints are set automatically.

• Progress verification: HR can see who’s on track, blocked, or overdue; leadership can view cohort-level KPIs. (Portfolios and dashboards facilitate this.)

Design your onboarding framework (the blueprint)

1. Individual project per new hire, initiated from a template

   • Utilize Asana’s employee onboarding template as your foundation.

   • Implement relative due dates so each task aligns with the start date (e.g., equipment 5 days prior, probation review at +30/+60/+90 days).
     
     

2. A cohort portfolio for insights

   • Add each new hire's project to a Portfolio for real-time updates, workflow visibility, and blockages. Develop a straightforward cohort dashboard (on-time completion %, average days to competence, pending IT tasks).
     
     

3. Unified intake form for HR

   • Develop an Onboarding Intake form to log start date, role, location, device requirements, systems access, hiring manager, and buddy assignments. Map responses to custom fields; each submission initiates a project from your template.
     
     

4. Rules for scalable customization

   • Apply Rules (if/then automations) to reroute tasks, update custom fields, and assign responsibilities when a form is submitted or fields change. Manual rule triggers assist HR when manual intervention is needed mid-process.
     
     

5. Approvals where compliance is crucial

   • Designate tasks for laptop provisioning, policy acknowledgment, and ID verification as explicit Approval tasks with “Approve/Request changes/Reject”.
     
     

6. Identity and security

   • Use SCIM provisioning (Okta + Asana) for centralized user management; this maintains streamlined projects and permissions across HR/IT.
     
     

7. AI enhancements (optional)

   • The 2025 updates introduced AI-powered templates/automations; integrate these with Asana’s AI Teammates announcements if you're testing automated workflows for updates, reminders, and summarized onboarding information.
     
     

Copy-ready example: fields, rules, and tasks

Custom fields (project level)

• Start date (date) · Role (dropdown: Engineer, Designer, Sales, Ops) · Location · Contract type · Manager · Buddy · Device (Laptop/Mobile) · Access level (Standard/Privileged)

Core tasks (from template, all with relative due dates)

• Welcome email sent (−3d) → Approval

• Accounts created: Google/Microsoft/Slack/Asana (−2d)

• Laptop shipped & asset registered (−2d) → Approval

• Day 1 agenda confirmed (−1d)

• Orientation and handbook (Day 1)

• Meet your buddy (Week 1)

• Tool training (Week 1–2)

• 30-day check-in (Day 30) · 60-day review (Day 60) · 90-day goals and probation review (Day 90)

Rules (examples)

• When form submitted → Create project from “Employee Onboarding” with Start date = form.StartDate.

• If Role = Engineer → add section “Engineering Track”, assign IT environment setup subtasks, and set due dates relative to Start date.

• If Location = Canada (Toronto) → add “Right-to-Work check” approval; notify HR-Canada.
  If Device = Laptop → assign “Ship laptop” to IT with due = Start date − 2 business days.

Reporting and ROI (what leadership wants to see)

Use Asana’s Portfolios/Dashboards to maintain a live HR scorecard; align measures to a KPI template to ensure comparison across quarters:

• On-time completion of Day-1 tasks (%).

• Ramp time to first deliverable (days).

• Policy and compliance completion (% by day 7).

• IT provisioning SLA (average days).

• Manager engagement (check-ins completed by 30/60/90).
  Asana’s KPI resources provide a framework for selecting indicators and maintaining SMART goals.

30–60–90 day rollout plan (HR × IT)

Days 0–30: Build and pilot

• Finalize your template (core + role tracks) with relative dates; develop the intake form and assign fields.

• Collaborate with IT and Facilities; incorporate Approval steps for actions requiring audits (laptop, access, right-to-work).

• Kick off a 10-hire pilot; consolidate their projects in one Portfolio.

Days 31–60: Automate and measure

• Add Rules for routing and role-specific tasks; enable manual triggers for HR to address edge cases.

• Create a dashboard with four KPIs (on-time Day-1, SLA, ramp, compliance).

Days 61–90: Stabilize and scale

• Activate SCIM (Okta + Asana) for automatic provisioning; guide the offboarding mirror process.

• Train managers on Approvals and 30/60/90 check-ins; finalize your template and channel changes via intake.

Evidence and examples for internal reference

• Asana on Asana (Mar 2025): document how the company standardizes onboarding templates and enhances manager transparency. Asana

• Case studies: explore how organizations utilize onboarding/offboarding in Asana to synchronize HR and IT; others report improved clarity for new hires. Asana

FAQs

How do I create a customized onboarding template in Asana?
Begin with Asana’s employee onboarding template, then incorporate your fields and tasks. Enable relative due dates so everything schedules from a start date. Asana

Can we personalize by role and location without making numerous templates?
Yes—leverage Forms and Rules to distribute tasks based on Role/Location and auto-assign owners; manual triggers allow for HR interventions during the process. Asana

How do we keep approvals and audits organized?
Use Approval tasks for policy sign-off, device provisioning, and ID verification; reviewers have clear “Approve/Request changes/Reject” options. help.asana.com

What about provisioning and access?
Link Okta + Asana to automate user provisioning/deprovisioning with SCIM; changes in the IdP synchronize with Asana. help.asana.com

How do we demonstrate ROI to leadership?
Create a Portfolio dashboard with four KPIs (on-time Day-1, IT SLA, ramp time, compliance %). Follow Asana’s KPI template guidance to ensure measures remain SMART. help.asana.com